Adjustable blocking means for typing and printing mechanisms

ABSTRACT

For typewriters and similar machines in which a blocking means cooperates with the type actuating means for preventing the simultaneous printing of more than one type, the blocking means is a member such as a ball block mounted on a lever for pivoting movement to vary the position of the blocking member relative to the type actuating means during the normal operation of the machine. A ratchet is provided to fix the blocking member in the desired position.

United States Patent 11 1 R111 et a1.

[451 Apr. 17, 1973 [541 ADJUSTABLE BLOCKINGMEANS FOR TYPING AND PRINTING MECHANISMS [75] Inventors: Albert Rix, Wilhelmshaven; Georg Werner, Heidmuhle; Hans Fuchs, Wilhelmshaven, all of Germany [73] Assignee: Olympia Werke AG, Wilhelmshaven, Germany 221 Filed: June 12, 1970 21 App1.No.:45,771

[30] Foreign Application Priority Data June 14, 1969 Germany ..IP 19 30 362.9

[52] US. Cl. ..197/107, 197/17, 197/98 [51] Int. Cl. ..B4lj 5/22 [58] Field of Search ..197/16, 17, 98, 107,

[56] References Cited UNlTED STATES PATENTS 3/1962 Shelton .l97/17 1/1927 .7/1898 l-lokanson Sears 197/107 Primary Examiner-Emest T. Wright, Jr. Attorney-Spencer & Kaye ABSTRACT For typewriters and similar machines in which a blocking means cooperates with the type actuating means for preventing the simultaneous printing of more than one type, the blocking means is a member such as a ball block mounted on a lever for pivoting movement to vary the position of the blocking member relative to the type actuating means during the normal operation of the machine. A ratchet is provided to fix the blocking member in the desired posit1on.

6Clainn,4DrawingFigures PAIENTEUAPRI 119B 3.727. 742

SHEET 1 OF ,3

INVENTORS: Alba/R Rix 60.0 Wmvmr Hans Fuchs BK'W5 e ATTORNEY ADJUSTABLE BLOCKING MEANS FOR TYPING AND PRINTING MECHANISMS BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION character. It is, moreover, intended to assure that the individual type characters are printed in the proper sequence.

Such blocking means are known as keyboard locks for the elimination of typebar lever blocking, which place an excessive stress on the mechanism and lead to malfunctions therein. The simultaneous depression of a plurality of keys is prevented in this way, but no adjustment of the block or of the members to be blocked is possible. These blocking means are permanently set in place during the assembly of the machines.

On the other hand, an arrangement has been proposed by applicants in a copending application Ser. No. 40,514, filed on May 26th l970,and entitled AP- PARATUS FOR THE CONTROL OF TYPEPRIN'I ING SEQUENCES in which stroke sequences for the writing mechanism fed in without the proper rhythm are mechanically stored, automatically called out and adapted to the machine rhythm in such a manner that no time delays can occur. An intermediate member is under the influence of a releasable force so that it automatically falls into a ball block when a pulse charge has been produced by an appropriate key lever and the type imprint sequence is automatically controlled and performed in a' known manner in the proper sequence. The configuration of the blocking arms of the levers falling into the ball block permits a controlling influence to be exerted on the functions of the individual mechanism in such a manner that during the movement of one mechanism a second mechanism is placed into the block for overlapping play and a third can be genuinely stored in a waiting position.

The installation of the ball block in the machine and I the particular configuration of the blocking arms definitely sets the blocking and storage times for the actuatable intermediate members at all times. A person who types rapidly and perfectly will find the fixed ball block to be annoying, although the proposed keyboard stroke sequences require only a few milliseconds in the proposed arrangement. The typist thus has no way to vary the blocking and storage times of the actuatable intermediate members, or to completely eliminate the ball block if desired.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION ltis an object of the present invention to provide typing and printing mechanisms having a blocking means in which the blocking and'storage times of the actuatable members can be controlled in the simplest manner.

According to the present invention, this object is accomplished in that theeffect of theblocking means can be varied during normal operation. This variation need not necessarily be accomplished by a mechanic, but can be done 'by the typist at his desk in a most simple manner. A detailedembodiment of the present invention provides that the blocking membersa're disposed to be adjustable and arrestable with respect to one another so that the blocking and storage times of the actuatable members can be varied. Consequently, the typist can determine the blocking and storage times of the parts to be blocked. This is done in the simplest manner by mounting the blocking means to be adjustable and arrestable. If the blocking means is found to be annoying by the typist, it can be moved completely out of the operative range of the actuatable members.

A further advantageous feature of the present invention is that the blocking means is constructed as a known ball block associated with a setting lever which is rotatably mounted on the machine housing and which coacts with a ratchet. The operation of this device is extremely simple.

Yet another advantageous feature is that the edge of the blocking arm of the intermediate member which first enters into the ball block is designed to be approximately parallel to the displacement direction of the block when the intermediate member is in its rest position. This assures that it is not the waiting positions of the intermediate members being stored, but rather the period of release of the ball block, which can be varied by the blocking arms of the intermediate members.

The members to be blocked'can, of course, also be designed to be displaceable and arrestable.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. I is a perspective, partly schematic, partly cross-sectional view of a typing machine having a ball block, with the adjustable mounting thereof according to the present invention omitted.

FIG. 2 is a side elevation view, on a much larger scale and partly in cross section, of a portion of FIG. 1, including the adjustable mounting for the ball block.

FIG. 3 is a front elevation view, partly in cross section, of the ball block of FIGS. 1 and 2.

FIG. 4 is a side elevation view of a lever with a pivotal blocking arm.

- DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS connection with typebars 5 by means of links 4. Only one typebar 5 and one link 4 are shown in FIG. 1 for the sake of clarity. Also mounted in the machine housing is a shaft 6, on which key levers 7 with keys 8 are pivotally mounted. Only one key lever 7 and one key 8 are shown in FIG. 1, the others being omitted for clarity. Each key lever7 carries a release tongue 9, and each is biased by a suitable spring 10. The spring 10 may be, for example, a helical tension spring. A combshaped member is also provided with slots 70' for each key lever 7 which serves as a stop for the pivotal movement of the key levers 7. v 1

The intermediate member is inth'e form of a lever 11 provided with a slot 11'. The slot 11' is defined by a curved control surface 13 which in turn includes a basic detent portion 14, a storage detent portion 15 and an inserted portion The storage portion 15 lies between the portions 14 and 15. The lever 11 is mounted on a shaft 12, and is designed, as illustrated in FIG. 2, to have, relative to shaft 12, a basic detent, or rest, position, a storage detent, or released, position and an inserted, or released, position. The basic detent position is achieved when the shaft 12 is in engagement with the basic detent portion 14 of the surfacel3, while the storage detent position is achieved when the shaft 12 is in engagement with the storage detent portion 15 and the inserted position is achieved when the shaft 12 is in engagement with the inserted portion 15'. The lever 1 l also has an abutment surface 16, .a control tongue 17, a blocking arm 18 and an abutment tongue 19. The function of each of these portions of lever 11 will be set out below.

A leaf spring comb 21 is provided which includes a number of laminated springs 20. Each of the springs 20 is associated with a respective one of the levers 11 in the machine. Only two springs 20 are shown in FIG. 1 for clarity. The leaf spring comb 21 is permanently connected to the machine housing by suitable, well-known means (not shown) and is arranged so that the end portion 20' of each spring 20 is in contact with theabutment surface 16 of a respective lever 11. Thus, the springs 20 continuouslybias the levers l l.

.A cam member 22 is rotatably mounted on each lever 2. The cam member 22 is provided with a drive cam surface 23 and a curved control surface 24 bearing contact points 25, 26 (FIG. 2).

A known intermediate lever bearing block 27 (FIG. 2) is rigidly mounted in the machine housing by wellknown means, and a known ball block 28 is slidably mounted in a slot 29" formed in the block 27 for ad justment in the direction of the opposed arrows of FIG. 2. The ball block 28 includes a basic element 29 provided with a groove 29 in which a plurality of balls 31 are guided, and a releasable cover plate 32 which per-.

rnits entrance of the balls 31 into the groove 29. The cover plate 32 may be releasably attached to the element 29 by any suitable well-known means. The basic element 29 fits within a slot 29" and is provided with a plurality of guide pins 33 which engage in a like number of correspondingly designed guide slots 43 formed in the intermediate lever bearing block 27. It is noted that only one pin 33 and slot 43 are shown in FIG. 2. The row of balls 31 is held in a center operating position by a pair of coil springs 44 and 45 (FIG. 3). This spring suspension has the advantage that the inser tion of the blocking arm 18 of the lever 11 is always done with the same force; the same number of balls 31 always being displaced.

As can be seen in FIG. 2, a setting lever 36 is pivotally mounted on a shaft 37 which is rigidly fastened to the bearing block 27. A guide slot 38 is formed at the lower end of the setting lever 36. A pin 39 is permanently connected to the basic element 29 and engages into the guide slot 38 of the setting lever 36. A pin 40 is mounted on the setting lever 36 and coacts with a correspondingly configured ratchet 41. The ratchet 41 is rigidly attached to a part of the machine frame (not shown).

The blocking arm 18 has a blocking tongue 34 which defines an edge 35 (FIG. 2). The edge 35 is oriented to be substantially parallel to the direction of adjustment The lever 46 is provided with a threaded bore 49 for.

receiving an adjusting screw 48 which abuts the narrow edge 52 of the blocking arm 50. The lever 46 is with the exception of the blocking arm 50 and its associated elements 48, 49 and 51 similar to lever 11, that is, reference numerals 11", 16, 17, 19 and 30 refer to portions on lever 46 which are similar to the portions referred to by reference numerals 11, 16, 17, 19 and 30 on lever l 1.

MODE OF OPERATION .When a first key 8 of the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 is depressed, the respective key lever 7 is pivoted in the clockwise direction as seen in FIG. 1 until the release tongue 9 (FIG. 2) presses directly against abutment edge 30 of its respective lever 11, hereinafter referred to as the first lever '1 1 since it is associated with the first key 8 to be depressed. The tongue 9 releases the lever 1 1, that is it urges the first lever 11 from its basic detent position, or rest mode, where the shaft 12 is in engagement with the detent portion 14 into its storage detent position, with the aid of the force exerted by the respective spring 20 on the abutment surface 16 of the lever 11. Since the ball block 28 is free to permit the entry of the blocking arm 18 of the first lever 11, the first lever 11 falls into its actuated or inserted position, where the shaft 12 is in engagement with the inserted portion 15. Abutment tongue 19 contacts the block 27 to help orient the lever 1 1.

Once the tongue 9 has moved the lever 11 out of its basic, or rest, detent position, it moves out of contact with the lever 11, so that the two levers 7 and 11 will have already separated from one another when the lever 11 moves into the ball block 28. Only when the blocking arm 18 of the lever 11 does enter the ball block 28 will the associated cam member 22 be moved into the effective range of the power roll 42. This is caused by the action of the control tongue 17 on the curved control surface 24 and, particularly contact point 26.

The power roll 42 acts on the drive cam surface 23 of cam 22 so as to rotate cam 22 counterclockwise and sublever 2 about shaft 3. Lever 2 pivots in a clockwise direction, which actuates link 4 and'causes the respective typebar 5 to print its particular character. As cam 22 continues to rotate under the influence of power roll 42, the cam surface 24 moves the abutment arm 19 of the intermediate lever 11 against a transverse bar 27 and thereafter back to its rest mode, where control tonsecond key lever 7 is actuated, a second lever 11 is put into its released mode. This second lever 11 is urged against the ball block 28 and is in fact stored. That is, the blocking arm 18 of the second lever 11 does not move into the ball block 28 between two balls 31, but, rather, moves out of its basic detent position to a position where the shaft 12 engages the storage detent portion 15, with the lever 11 under the influence of its respective spring 20. When the ball block 28 is released or disengaged by the movement of the blocking arm 18 of the first lever 11 out from between the balls 31, the blocking arm 18 of the second, or stored, lever 11, due to the force of its respective spring 20, automatically moves in between a pair of the balls 31. The type printing cycle set out above is then repeated.

With the particular configuration of the blocking arm 18 shown in FIG. 2 of the drawing, it is possible to act on the functional development of the individual mechanisms in such a manner that during the movement of one mechanism a second mechanism can already be actuated to perform its overlapping movement. Further, a third mechanism may be actuated as soon as the lever 11 of the first mechanism has cleared the ball block 28.

This release of the ball block 28 when the typebar actuating mechanism returns is controllable according to the present invention because the ball block 28 is adjustable. Each typist can individually set the ball block 28. The adjustment is accomplished by means of the setting lever 36, which encloses the pin 39 with its guide slot 38 formed therein and which correspondingly displaces the basic element 29, including the ball block 28. The ball block 28, however, can also be pivoted entirely out of the effective range of the blocking arms 18 of levers 11. The position of setting lever 36 can be fixed by ratchet 41.

The particular construction of the setting lever 36, pin 40 and ratchet 41 enables the ball block 28 to be adjusted along a path indicated by the opposed arrows in FIG. 2. The pin 39 of the ball block 28 engages in the guide slot 38 defined in the lower end of the setting lever 36 and enables the ball block 28 to slide in slot 29" of the bearing block 27. When the ball block 28 is moved as far to the left as it can go in the slot 29", the blocking arms 18 of the levers 11 will not be blocked by the balls 31 when more than one lever 11 is in its released mode.

Since the edge 35 of tongue 34 of blocking arms 18 is designed to be parallel to the direction of movement of the basic element 29 of the ball block 28, the position of a lever 11 in the storage position is not changed. Only the time of release of ball block 28 by the blocking arms 18 oflevers 11 is controlled.

The present invention can be employed and applied wherever pulses given manually by less skilled typists or typists not yet familiar with the machine are to be positively transmitted to the typebars 5 in the proper sequence.

With the particular configuration of the lever 46 shown in FIG. 4 of the drawing, it is possible to adjust and arrest the blocking arm 50. It is clear from FIG. 4 that rotation of the adjusting screw 48 in a direction to cause the blocking arm 50 to be rocked counterclockwise relative to the lever 46 will increase the distance of the blocking arm 50 from the ball 31. This makes it possible to adjust the individual type bar operating mechanism. Consequently, each typist can determine the blocking and storage times of the parts to be blocked. This is done in a simple manner by mounting the blocking arm on the lever 46 to be adjustable and arrestable.

It will be understood that the above description of the present invention is susceptible to various modifications, changes and adaptations, and the same are intended to be comprehended within the meaning and range of equivalents of the appended claims.

We claim:

1. ln apparatus such as typewriters and similar machines havinga blocking means cooperating with type actuating means for preventing the simultaneous printing or more than one type, the improvement comprising means adjustably and arrestably mounting said blocking means, and means connected to said blocking means and movably mounted for selectively varying the position of said blocking means relative to the type actuating means during the normal operation of the machine, a plurality of actuatable members forming part of the type actuating means and provided with blocking arms which coact with said blocking means, each said blocking arm including means influencing the function of its associated actuatable member in a controlling manner, said mounting means in conjunction with said means for selectively varying serving to adjust the extent of engagement of each said blocking arm with said blocking means to vary the time during which a blocking arm coacts with said blocking means.

2. Apparatus as defined in claim 1, wherein said blocking means is mounted by said adjustable and arrestable means to be continuously adjustable and arrestable.

3. Apparatus as defined in claim 2, wherein said blocking arm of each of said actuatable members defines an edge near the portion of the blocking arm which first coacts with said blocking means, and this edge is oriented to be substantially parallel to thedirection of adjustment of said blocking means when said actuatable member is in its rest position.

4. Apparatus as defined in claim 3, wherein said blocking means is a ball block, and wherein said means connected to said blocking means includes a setting lever and a ratchet, said setting lever being rotatably mounted and coacting with said ratchet and coupled to said ball block varying the position of said ball block.

5. Apparatus as defined in claim 1, further comprising means for mounting said blocking arms to be adjustable and arrestable.

6. in apparatus such as typewriters and similar machines having a blocking means cooperating with type actuating means for preventing the simultaneous printing of more than one type, the improvement wherein the blocking means is formed as a ball block having a basic element including pin means, said basic element defining a groove, a plurality of balls arranged in and guided by the groove, and a releasable cover plate fitted in the groove, and the improvement comprising means for continuously adjustably and arrestably mounting said ball block including a bearing block for mounting said ball block and slots defined in said bearing block within which a portion of said pin means are engaged for guiding said ball block, means for selectively varying the position of said ball block relative to the type actuating means, said selectively varying means being connected to said ball block and including a setting lever rotatably mounted to said bearing block and a ratchet, said setting lever including a slot formed therein within which another portion of said pin means is engaged to couple said ball block to said setting lever, said setting lever and ratchet coact to selectively vary the position of said ball block relative to the type actuating means during the normal operation of the machine, said type actuating means including a plurality of actuatable members defining blocking arms which coact with said ball block, said blocking arms each including an edge near the portion of the blocking arm which first coacts. with said ball block,

and this edge is oriented to be substantially parallel to the direction of adjustment of said ball block when said actuatable member is in a rest position, thereby influencing the functioning of the individual actuatable members in a controlling manner, said means for continuously adjustably and arrestably mounting said ball block in conjunction with said blocking arms serving to vary the blocking and storage times of said actuatable members. 

1. In apparatus such as typewriters and similar machines having a blocking means cooperating with type actuating means for preventing the simultaneous printing of more than one type, the improvement comprising means adjustably and arrestably mounting said blocking means, and means connected to said blocking means and movably mounted for selectively varying the position of said blocking means relative to the type actuating means during the normal operation of the machine, a plurality of actuatable members forming part of the type actuating means and provided with blocking arms which coact with said blocking means, each said blocking arm including means influencing the function of its associated actuatable member in a controlling manner, said mounting means in conjunction with said means for selectively varying serving to adjust the extent of engagement of each said blocking arm with said blocking means to vary the time during which a blocking arm coacts with said blocking means.
 2. Apparatus as defined in claim 1, wherein said blocking means is mounted by said adjustable and arrestable means to be continuously adjustable and arrestable.
 3. Apparatus as defined in claim 2, wherein said blocking arm of each of said actuatable members defines an edge near the portion of the blocking arm which first coacts with said blocking means, and this edge is oriented to be substantially parallel to the direction of adjustment of said blocking means when said actuatable member is in its rest position.
 4. Apparatus as defined in claim 3, wherein said blocking means is a ball block, and wherein said means connected to said blocking means includes a setting lever and a ratchet, said setting lever being rotatably mounted and coacting wiTh said ratchet and coupled to said ball block varying the position of said ball block.
 5. Apparatus as defined in claim 1, further comprising means for mounting said blocking arms to be adjustable and arrestable.
 6. in apparatus such as typewriters and similar machines having a blocking means cooperating with type actuating means for preventing the simultaneous printing of more than one type, the improvement wherein the blocking means is formed as a ball block having a basic element including pin means, said basic element defining a groove, a plurality of balls arranged in and guided by the groove, and a releasable cover plate fitted in the groove, and the improvement comprising means for continuously adjustably and arrestably mounting said ball block including a bearing block for mounting said ball block and slots defined in said bearing block within which a portion of said pin means are engaged for guiding said ball block, means for selectively varying the position of said ball block relative to the type actuating means, said selectively varying means being connected to said ball block and including a setting lever rotatably mounted to said bearing block and a ratchet, said setting lever including a slot formed therein within which another portion of said pin means is engaged to couple said ball block to said setting lever, said setting lever and ratchet coact to selectively vary the position of said ball block relative to the type actuating means during the normal operation of the machine, said type actuating means including a plurality of actuatable members defining blocking arms which coact with said ball block, said blocking arms each including an edge near the portion of the blocking arm which first coacts with said ball block, and this edge is oriented to be substantially parallel to the direction of adjustment of said ball block when said actuatable member is in a rest position, thereby influencing the functioning of the individual actuatable members in a controlling manner, said means for continuously adjustably and arrestably mounting said ball block in conjunction with said blocking arms serving to vary the blocking and storage times of said actuatable members. 